Real work begins for researchers, scientists now that Mars rover has landed

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - The euphoria and excitement of Sunday night's Mars rover landing lingered Monday, but NASA and JPL researchers already know there's some grindingly slow work ahead of them - both scientifically and politically.

In the short term, the Mars Science Laboratory team will get started on Curiosity's two-year mission, searching for signs of life within a low-elevation crater where water may have collected billions of years ago.

In a statement issued Monday, Caltech president Jean-Lou Chameau hailed the landing as a huge step forward in space exploration.

"This is a win for humankind - Curiosity belongs to everyone," Chameau said. "Exploring Mars will help us develop a greater understanding of the universe and our place in it."

JPL is a division of Caltech and Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Getting to the surface Sunday night wasn't completely smooth.

Martin Greco, entry-descent- landing and activities lead, said Curiosity's descent was a "very scary time" because the spacecraft was operating completely on its own.

"You can't do anything at that point," Greco said.

The most nerve-wracking moment for Greco was when the crew got a heat shield temperature warning. He said simulated landings included that as a possibility, but the "real thing" was much more stressful.

Now that the rover is on the surface, it's out of his hands. After eight years of hard work, he's looking forward to relaxing and watching what the rover does.

"Hopefully in the next day or two, we'll get some good color photos," Greco said.

On Wednesday, JPL engineers will begin checking Curiosity's scientific instruments to see if they are functioning properly. The rover also will begin collecting images for its first panoramic photo.

Later this week, the rover will be reprogrammed. It currently contains flight software and needs to be switched over to ground software.

It will take several weeks to test the various MSL instruments, and a few months before researchers have really delved into experiments in the area around Curiosity's landing site, MSL and Caltech scientist John Grotzinger said.

"Within a year or so we could be at the base of Mount Sharp," he said, referring to the tall mountain at the center of the crater. "The mission is about patience and checking things out carefully."

Working on Mars time

Researchers also will use the start of the mission to get themselves acclimated to working on Mars time.

One day on Mars is 40 minutes longer than one day on Earth, so scientists' regular workday constantly starts later and later in the day. Eventually they'll find themselves starting work well after midnight.

"It's a challenge," said Bethany Ehlmann, a Caltech geologist who worked previously with the rovers Spirit and Opportunity. "The way to overcome it is to to dive into it full force and live religiously on Mars time."

Ehlmann has one of the more intriguing Mars Science Laboratory job descriptions, working with an international team to zap rocks with a laser.

While scientists are excited about the discoveries that could be made by Curiosity, there is some apprehension about the immediate future of Mars exploration in the wake of federal budget cuts to NASA and JPL.

There's one more Mars launch scheduled next year, an orbiter called MAVEN that will investigate the planet's upper atmosphere.

After that, there are a lot of question marks.

Curiosity by itself can't identify life on Mars, and a planned mission to bring rock samples back to Earth fell victim to NASA's shrinking budget earlier this year.

A committee formed to set long-term goals, the Mars Program Planning Group, is set to deliver a key report later this month, with 2020 expected to be the earliest date for another mission to the surface.

Robotic analysis does have some limitations, such as dating, that makes it important to bring Mars samples back for study, NASA scientist Michael Meyer said.

However, NASA's political unsteadiness won't have too much of an impact on long-term Mars exploration, Meyer added.

Manned missions a goal

Manned missions to Mars are still a goal for the next decade.

"If we can't do it now, it's one of the things that are still around for the future of space exploration," he said.

While the planet won't change anytime soon, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, is concerned that JPL could lose some its institutional knowledge from building and operating rovers if there's too long of a delay between missions.

"We're fighting to make Curiosity the most recent of a continuing line of great JPL mission to Mars and other planets," Schiff said. "We do not want to step back now."

Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, issued a congratulatory message to the NASA-JPL team.

"Their accomplishments inspire the hearts, minds and imaginations of the youth of America, our next generation of inventors, scientists and explorers," Dreier said in a written statement.

Successes such as the Curiosity landing, which required completely new engineering to make it safely to the surface, provide plenty of lessons for NASA.

But they might learn even more from the mistakes, such as the failed Mars Polar Lander and Spirit's loss after getting stuck.

"There's a lot of heritage in the folks that are acting on the team, and they understand how to deal with these situations. Many of them have seen it before with Spirit and Opportunity," NASA's Mars program director Doug McCuistion said. "So you build a knowledge base, a core competency if you will, that becomes irreplaceable. ... It's crucial to continue doing these types of missions."

Spirit and Opportunity also serve as a testament to enduring engineering, as both far outlasted their planned three-month missions.

Opportunity, which landed in 2004, is still in operation.

Curiosity, too, could wind up having a long lifespan.

"The nominal mission is for two years, but I think if it lasts twice that, I don't think anybody would be shocked," MSL project manager Pete Theisinger said.